This invention is directed to a process for making pant-like, personal care absorbent products having hook and loop fasteners on the side panels for ease of removal and donning without complete removal of a wearer""s clothing.
Pant-like absorbent garments, such as adult incontinence wear as well as infant and children""s diapers, swim wear and training pants, typically have adhesive fasteners on the sides for donning and removal, or else rely on the waist opening and leg openings to slide on and off the wearer. Adhesive fasteners wear out in as little as one use. Therefore, if a care giver checks the status of the wearer""s absorbent garment contents by unfastening an adhesive fastener, the garment often must be replaced due to a worn out adhesive fastener even if the absorbent garment itself is not in need of changing.
Absorbent garments that slide on and off a wearer are often messy when fall. Furthermore, in order to remove such absorbent garments, the wearer""s clothing covering the absorbent garments, such as pants, must be completely removed. Checking the status of the wearer""s absorbent garment contents is often just as cumbersome as changing the absorbent garment.
There is a need or desire for a process for making pant-like, personal care absorbent garments that have refastenable side seams for ease of removal and donning without complete removal of a wearer""s clothing.
The present invention is directed to a process for making pant-like absorbent garments having hook and loop fasteners applied at the sides of the garments. The process is carried out in a cross direction. In the process of the invention, a pair of fastening components is attached to either two front side panels or to two back side panels of a garment assembly. A pair of mating fastening components, folded lengthwise, is attached to either the two back side panels or the two front side panels of the garment assembly. The folded edges of the mating fastening components face the distal edges, or the planned distal edges, of the front or back side panels. The garment assembly, or a plurality of adjacent garment assemblies, is then folded such that the folded mating fastening components are aligned with the fastening components. Adjacent assemblies are then separated, thereby resulting in prefastened individual garments.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, a portion of the mating fastening component can be die-cut in a sinusoidal or other nesting shape, to allow the mating fastening component to be bonded to the garment after the mating fastening component is folded.
The resulting absorbent garments have a pair of refastenable lap side seams and can be easily fitted to and removed from a wearer without complete removal of a wearer""s clothing. The refastenable side seams extend from a waist opening to each of two leg openings between a front panel and a back panel. Each of the refastenable side seams includes a fastening component and a mating fastening component, each of which comprises either a hook material or a loop material. The refastenable lap side seams experience a shearing strain during use, as opposed to peel forces, thereby reducing the likelihood of the seams opening unexpectedly.
With the foregoing in mind, it is a feature and advantage of the invention to provide a process for making a pant-like absorbent garment that can be easily applied to and easily removed from a wearer without the need to entirely remove the wearer""s clothing.